Happy Monday and greetings from Paris! With Ryan taking a well-deserved holiday, I am filling his stylish shoes for the day. Follow me on Twitter for reporting on French politics and how it affects the EU: @NicholasVinocur

TURKEY — HUGE PRO-ERDOĞAN RALLY IN ISTANBUL: More than 1 million people turned out in support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after last month’s attempted coup. Flag-waving crowds turned the Yenikapi quarter into a sea of red. Heads of major opposition parties attended. “The combination of nationalism and religiosity is like nothing I have seen in twenty years of following Turkish politics,” Christopher de Ballaigue writes for the NY Review of Books. POLITICO | BBC

Death penalty vow: Turkey’s president flagged a possible return of executions, which are banned in the EU. “If the nation makes such a decision [in support of death penalty], I believe political parties will abide by this decision,” he said.

No expense spared: The government readied five million bottles of water, 2 million flags and 1.5 million special printed caps for the rally. Food and drink were distributed to demonstrators from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Le Monde: http://bit.ly/2aJMLR8

Erdoğan’s first trip: Moscow. In his maiden trip abroad since the failed army coup in July, Erdoğan will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia on Tuesday. http://on.wsj.com/2b5TRk0

TERRORISM — ISIL CLAIMS CHARLEROI ATTACK: The Islamic State group via the Aamaq news agency claimed Saturday’s machete attack on two policewomen. The attack was being treated as a “terrorist assassination attempt,” said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. Military forces are deployed beyond Brussels to beef up security. POLITICO: http://politi.co/2b68p0G

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COMMISSION — EX-DOMBROVSKIS AIDE RAISES RED FLAG ON POL INTERFERENCE: European Vice President for the Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis’ former chief of cabinet, Taneli Lahti has left the European Commission. Lahti said he disagrees with the way the Commission monitors EU countries’ budgets. “There has been back-tracking. Political considerations override more long-term objectives,” he said. http://bit.ly/2aqDH08

COMMISSION — TRACKING BALKAN ARMS EXPORTS: After revelations last week that EU countries in the Balkans have exported €1.2 billion of arms to the Middle East, a Commission spokesperson has confirmed an investigation is under way. Read more: http://bit.ly/2aqsuws

COMMISSION — NEW REPORT ON ONLINE DRUGS TRADE: A report by the RAND research institute has found that in Europe, most vendors using so-called ‘cryptomarkets’ to sell drugs are based in the U.K. and Germany. Cannabis, stimulants and ecstasy are responsible for 70 percent of revenue. Report here: http://bit.ly/2az2sa3

PARLIAMENT — LEGA NORD MEP WAS ONCE A COMMUNIST:Matteo Salvini, controversial leader of the far-right Lega Nord and an MEP, has followed the traditional path of hard right politicians: He was once a Communist. On Italian radio recently, he confessed he “went around with a badge of Che Guevara.” Read a profile of the politician here (in Italian) http://huff.to/2aqxSQq

PARLIAMENT — LEADER OF UNITED LEFT GROUP ON FUTURE OF EU: Barbara Spinelli, an MEP for the GUE/NGL group in the European Parliament, lays out her vision of the EU and how to get there. http://bit.ly/2aIDk4z

SOUTHERN ANTI-AUSTERITY FRONT: Do gripes an alliance make? In a fresh attempt to rally Europe’s southern nations into a power bloc, Greece’s Alexis Tsipras invited leaders of France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Malta to Athens on September 9. The gathering will focus on common challenges facing the EU with special a focus on austerity, fiscal discipline and migration. The “issues … justify enhanced cooperation between them,” said French S&D MEP Gilles Pargneaux. Vince Chadwick: http://politi.co/2aqJlz4

TRANSATLANTIC TIES — WHAT HAPPENS IF TRUMP WINS: Six months ago, European leaders felt free to dismiss Donald Trump’s criticism of NATO and insults of the EU as the ravings of a candidate who had no chance of winning the Republican party nomination, much less the presidency. Now, with Trump in the running for the U.S. top job, the question is: If Trump wins, will he feel any obligation to uphold his country’s historical role as defender and guarantor of the West? So far, the answer seems to be probably not. Here’s my story on how a Trump presidency would affect Russia, the Baltics, and NATO: http://politi.co/2aT7T6Q

GERMANY CORNER …

Merkel slipping? The German chancellor’s personal approval score plummeted by 12 percentage points after the spate of attacks in July in Germany, to 47 percent, a six-month low. Worries about terrorism, migration and Turkey led the fall, with just 34 percent of respondents backing her migration policy, the lowest level since polling on the topic began, a poll showed. WSJ: http://on.wsj.com/2angOyY

Not so fast: Merkel may have lost some of her mojo and her rival Horst Seehofer, the conservative Bavarian Premier, is benefitting in a big way. But don’t count Mutti out quite yet. “In fact, she has no credible rivals,” argues the BBC’s Damien McGuinness.

Sigmar Gabriel calls for primary: The Social Democratic Party chairman called for a primary to decide who would challenge Merkel in elections next year.“If there were to be more than one candidate in the SPD, I think that would be a good thing,” Gabriel told ARD. European Parliament President Martin Schulz and Hamburg Mayor Olaf Scholz are being floated as possible contestants. Patrick Donahue: http://bloom.bg/2aJNt0D

Poll: Merkel’s CDU party has 34 percent support; Gabriel’s SPD is at 22 percent, according to a weekly Emnid poll for Bild. http://bit.ly/2axoRo9

ITALY — THE NEW BOAR WAR:Weighing up to 200 kilograms, boars are flattening crops, goring sheep, turfing up golf courses and even causing traffic accidents. The more brazen animals are sauntering through the streets of suburban Rome to root through rubbish and are even appearing at tourist beaches. Italians farmers are rising up in protest. Jacopo Barigazzi has the details: http://politi.co/2aERCl2

UK — CORBYN PLEDGES HIGHER TAXES TO WOO OLDER VOTERS: Embattled Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn would increase pay for public sector workers, corporation tax by 1 percent and the top income tax rate if he were elected. http://bit.ly/2aYPLcU

UK — THE SUGAR COMPANY THAT THINKS BREXIT’S A SWEET THING: Tate & Lyle Sugars — Europe’s largest sugar cane refinery — is one of a tiny band of businesses that came out in favor of Brexit before the vote, and now Brexit offers an opening. This story has it all: a sugar war that hails from Napoleonic times and pits cane against beets, backroom lobbying, and hope. “Britain’s only sugar cane refinery has loomed over London’s hardscrabble Silvertown docklands since 1878 and still receives shiploads of raw cane from former colonies … But business is struggling … Brussels slaps high tariffs on sugar cane imports while simultaneously subsidizing the beet crop used by Tate & Lyle’s competitors …” Emmet Livingstone with the saga: http://politi.co/2b6l7Nf

UK — NIGEL FARAGE IS A JOURNALIST’S PERFECT LUNCH COMPANION: Amol Rajan on why it pays to leave your advisors at home. “Nigel Farage is the most consequential British politician of his generation in no small part because he is a journalist’s perfect lunch companion: generous, fun, and indiscreet … In countless spheres of public life, journalists are being kept away from the story by PR protectors … [meetings between politicians and reporters are] best done between equals or at least near-equals; it is harder to do when a third, spare wheel is present.” http://politi.co/2aFh8aO

UK — AIRBUS INVESTIGATION: The U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office launched a formal investigation into suspected fraud, bribery and corruption in connection with commercial plane sales by Airbus, its parent company announced Sunday. http://reut.rs/2ayaxMs

IRELAND — ALL-IRELAND FORUM ON ICE: Proposals by the Irish government to create an all-Ireland forum to deal with Brexit were dismissed by Northern Irish DUP leader, Arlene Foster. Charlie Flanagan, the Irish foreign minister, said without her participation, there was no point proceeding. More here: http://bit.ly/2anm1Xw

LATVIA — DEFENSE MINISTRY DEPLOYS ADDITIONAL SHIP: In July, 18 Russian warships were detected near the Latvian maritime border. Latvia’s defense ministry announced that from August 4 an additional ship will be posted on duty in its waters “to enhance the on-call existing vessels and increased operational capability for timely identification of suspicious surface or underwater activities.” More here: http://bit.ly/2aTw5Hh

SPAIN — FORMER PRESIDENT ZAPATERO URGES SOCIALISTS TO NEGOTIATE: With Spain still in political deadlock and fears of a third election being called, the former president and head of the Socialist party, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, is urging his successor to negotiate. Read more here (in Spanish): http://huff.to/2azx0hM

SERBIA-CROATIA — OPERATION STORM REMEMBERED: In Croatia, it’s a day of celebration every year, marking the day government forces ejected rebel Serbians from the southeast of the country. In Serbia, it is seen in a very different way. Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić said of the celebrations: “They celebrate victory, but what is their victory? They are rejoicing in our sorrow.” More here: http://bit.ly/2aXyEIT

OLYMPIC UPDATE …

Injury Rio: Plenty of wince-inducing moments on the first weekend of Olympics in Rio. First, French gymnast Samir Aït Saïd snapped his leg, only to be dropped while on a stretcher on the way out of the arena. Saïd suffered the same injury to his other leg in 2012. Then Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten suffered a serious crash during a race and had to be hospitalized. Finally, British gymnast Ellie Downie fell awkwardly on her neck, but rallied to help Britain reach the gymnastics final. Full coverage on USAToday: http://usat.ly/2b6jXmV

Russia out: Russia will be banned from the 2016 Paralympic Games in September, the International Paralympic Committee announced Sunday, after an investigation showed athletes were part of the same state-sanctioned doping as many Olympians. http://on.wsj.com/2asaxCk

Medal count: China and Australia have three gold medals, the most so far. Italy, South Korea and Hungary all have two. Kosovo — for the first time — United States, Japan, Russia, Argentina and Chinese Taipei, among others all have one. Ranking: http://bit.ly/2aQdOHR

Security threat? POLITICO’s Annabelle Timsit argues that Zika, dirty water and crime are not the biggest headaches at Rio 2016. “The inadequacy of Brazilian security forces to counter the overwhelming number of threats being directed at the Olympics has been well documented,” she writes. http://politi.co/2aF4AQN

BRUSSELS — FREE WI-FI: Free Wi-Fi will be installed in some Brussels metro stations from next month, according to Pascal Smet, the transport minister. All stations will have access by the end of 2017. http://bit.ly/2aRCGz7